


Lost and Found

by 80sjuicebox



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, First Meetings, M/M, Mild Gore, werewolf jaehyun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-20 17:55:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30008718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/80sjuicebox/pseuds/80sjuicebox
Summary: Johnny finds a wolf.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	Lost and Found

**Author's Note:**

> Not much happens but I have some ideas for another chapter that I will hopefully write at some point. My heart says slow burn but my brain says writer's block... I am truly not built for long fics. Also grammar is all over the place so if u see a mistake u didn't

Hypothermia, animal attack, dehydration… beggars couldn’t be choosers, especially not when awaiting nature’s pending execution. The muddled nightfall seemed to stretch on indefinitely ahead, frozen fingers locked onto a flashlight that resisted weakly against the pressing darkness. Snow crunched beneath his boots with each terrified step, the twisting silhouettes of bare oak indistinguishable and grim. The past few hours could only be described as despairingly lost, nerves fraying with each trudge. What had started as a well-intentioned trek had taken a sinister plunge; a single moment’s lapse of awareness was all it took to topple the first domino of disorientation. The cold had grown more unbearable from the wintry sun setting, leaving exposed skin numb and covered limbs aching. 

Then, a sound that ripped violently through his being, turning his blood to ice. A piercing howl. Worse – it couldn’t have been more than 100 feet away. Nothing else manages to cross Johnny’s mind before he’s bolting, the flashlight beam swinging wildly over the terrain. Through his own rapid panting, the unmistakeable noise of something crashing through the woods followed him from a distance. The force at which his feet were hitting the ground hurt, as did each sharply inspired breath that parched his mouth, yet his limbs seemed to move of their own accord. The wonder of man, evolving over centuries to keep their animalistic instincts under bounds and yet having it unleashed in split second situations. A branch snapped noisily on his left, the creature gaining in on him, and he turned to sprint in the opposite direction. A swift thing it was, almost having the light-heartedness of a game in the way it manoeuvred its prey with its rowdy presence. The creature – Wolf? Coyote? – by nothing short of a miracle, never caught up. 

A clearing gradually came into view, the body of a familiar Range Rover picking up the glimmer from his torch. In an adrenaline fuelled daze, he jammed the keys into the ignition and a stomp on the accelerator threw him on the dirt path home.

*

Starvation, infection, exposure… beggars couldn’t be choosers. He’d watched the blinking constellations in the sky meld into the fiery gold that came with sunrise, a sight that he knew like his own backyard. A sight that felt like home, which only served to emphasise the wretchedness of his state: steel teeth buried in his leg, rust colouring the snow-coloured fur. It’s been what… 12 hours? The initial attempt to struggle out of the trap was to no avail, only serving to further mangle the flesh. Time was not on his side. He cursed the more than suboptimal timing of this injury as weakness creeped up his body; any other time he could’ve broken out. Who knew curiosity would be his downfall, all this for a dainty gold chain that lay starkly against the ground a distance from him. That was the last thing on his mind now. Granted, a werewolf’s blood ran hotter than a normal person’s, but bare skin was incomparable to a double layered fur coat in such temperatures; returning to human form would do little to help his current cause. Depending on when the trapper chose to return, if at all, it could differ between a bullet and an awkward explanation. Of course, neither were ideal. Wolf traps were rare in the area but not unheard of; they were hardly complicated in design, but attempting to free yourself from one was another story. During the winter months, a light dusting of snow was all it took to conceal the trap seamlessly. 

“Oh shit.” 

The voice sends a jolt of adrenaline through Jaehyun as he instinctively rose from the ground to face its source, heart sinking to his heels. Was this it? No time is spent attending to the despair twisting his guts as he bares his canines to the stranger, a low rumble vibrating from the depths of his chest. However, standing proved to be a challenge as the agonising tug on his leg brought him collapsing back into the earth with a metallic clink. He prepared for the worst. _Wait. Isn’t that…?_

“Uh… hey buddy, I’m not here to hurt you okay? Shit… hold on.” 

He doesn’t have a gun. That was the first thought to cross Jaehyun’s mind, slightly quelling his alarm. The man appeared just as startled to see the wounded wolf, taking a few frantic glances around before directing his attention back to him. Cautiously, he lowered himself to a crouching position from his towering height and took a painstakingly slow step forward. It’s not a welcomed gesture, Jaehyun yanking at the chain attached to the trap once more while he tries to back away, his entire being charged with the sole command to flee. The man winced as if he’s the one with a steel trap barely raking over his tibia and halts his advances momentarily. “It’s okay, I’m trying to help you, it’s okay,” he mumbled mindlessly in a soft tone, the ludicrousness of speaking to a feral wolf something Jaehyun might have found humorous in a different circumstance. Infuriatingly, it seemed to work. The growling died down, though his hackles didn’t lower. The man was an arm’s length away at this point, and the proximity along with his larger physique rekindled the anxiety within Jaehyun, the threat of transformation prickling under his skin. 

_Oh no._

A sudden motionlessness cuts through him, the hands of unconsciousness fastening around his mind and lugging him beneath the surface, a final thought of dread half-formed.

*

Whether it was out of consternation or kindness, one sure factor of his current predicament was undeniably stupidity.

“You have a WHAT?” A shrill yell sounded on the other end of the line. 

“A…wolf. But it’s like. Unconscious. Or dead.”

“In your trunk. Right now.” 

“Yes.” 

“Johnny Suh are you insane? Why is it there?!” 

“It got caught in a trap. Any ideas what to do now?” 

“Put it back???” 

“I can’t just leave it to die?!”

“Didn’t you say it might already be dead???” 

“Fuck, Ten just help me out.” 

A pause and an exasperated sigh. “Ok…Google says call a wildlife rehabilitator. I’ll find one and send you the number.” 

“Thanks.”

“Seriously though what are you doing in the middle of nowhere in winter?! Why couldn’t you just have spent your holidays at home or something like a normal—”

Johnny interrupted the onslaught of nagging with an acknowledging groan, prompting Ten to find some self-awareness and stop himself. “Text me when you’re home. Be careful.” Ten huffed, dropping the call, and the hushed whispers of wind fall back into focus. Hearing a familiar voice had brought him back to earth a little. He absentmindedly turned the data on and off on his phone, though the 4G symbol never popped up. Nothing surprising. Although, the lack of commotion in the trunk of his car had uneasiness eating at him. For a multitude of reasons, the thought of having a dead wolf in his car was nauseating. He should check. As he rounded to the back of his car, his phone buzzed with a message alert and he clicked on the notification to find a series of numbers greeting him. Inputting the number into the telephone app, he peered through the tinted window of the trunk in hopes of some sign of life. 

_Um._

That was most definitely not a wolf. Or coyote. Or wild animal of any kind. 

_What the fuck._

Had he actually gone insane? Was this some kind of psychotic episode? The last time he checked he was hydrated, nourished and rested but the events unfolding had left him feeling scarcely sane. 

Against the plastic tarp laid down in his trunk lay a human man. 

*

The man lay curled on his side, bare and motionless. For a mortified second, Johnny thinks he might be dead. One thumb hovering over the ‘dial’ button of his phone, his free hand searches for the latch below the rim of the window and hauls the hatch open, half-expecting it to have been some trick of the mind. Immediately, he’s confronted with the fact that it wasn’t. Against fair skin, a gruesome wound carved itself into the man’s shin, and at the bottom of his spine sat a limp bushy tail. Ash coloured ears that were very much not human jutted out from the sides of his head. Each feature provided a false sense of recognition, yet when pieced together the dissonance melted Johnny’s brain. Dark hair shadowed the man’s visage, but it is right under in which Johnny found reprieve: the shallow rise and fall of his chest. After an earnest struggle to gather himself, he turned away and cleared the number on his phone, entering 9-1-1 instead with shaky hands.

Before he could bring the phone to his ear, a weight threw itself onto Johnny’s back, the impetuousness of the assault knocking him to the ground with a yelp. He manages to catch himself mostly on his forearm, the pain that shot up instantly sparking belligerence within him. While whoever on him adjusted their centre of gravity in an attempt to hang up the call, Johnny seizes the opportunity and musters enough strength to swiftly flip himself onto his back, though that was the extent of his defiance as hands lock around his wrists and shove them into the dirt above his head. Being a six foot one man who was reasonably fit and trained in Muay Thai, Johnny didn’t find himself in this position a lot; any ounce of struggle was futile, to his bewilderment and growing alarm. Only when air no longer seemed to be reaching his lungs and digging into the earth seemed more conceivable than escaping the man’s restraint did he halt his endeavours. Wild golden pupils come into focus along with lips curled around pointed canines in a snarl, both parties heaving. “What the fuck,” leaves Johnny’s mouth in between breaths as the image above him registers. The stillness between them drags on, a curious lack of action from the unclothed man straddling his hips. 

“What do you want from me?” Johnny tries. 

“I should be asking you that.” Jaehyun rasps, body pulled taut like a rubber band. There had been no reason to think it, yet a flash of surprise crosses Johnny’s mind when he receives a coherent verbal response from the man. 

“You’re injured, I’m trying to fucking help you,” Johnny shoots, brows furrowed. “And I’m pretty sure I picked up a wolf.” 

Johnny watches the other man’s Adam’s apple bob, corners of his mouth pressing deeper nervously which chisels a little valley into each of his cheeks. As if completely failing to read the room, Johnny’s brain contributes a very helpful _‘he’s cute’_.

“If I wanted to hurt you I could’ve left you to die or killed you right there. Do you know how hard that trap was to open?” He adds, dialling the accusatory tone up enough to be bordering guilt-tripping. The grip on his wrists let up by a fraction. “Are you a… werewolf? Is that actually a thing?” 

Jaehyun’s bottom lip disappears under his teeth for a moment, line of sight directed away from Johnny’s burning stare. “Did anyone else see?” Jaehyun asks hesitantly, the refusal to address his latter question a tacit answer itself. 

“No.” Johnny barely gets to process the existence of werewolves before he realises too late that if this were Jaehyun’s way of eliminating witnesses, he’d just pressed himself to the gun muzzle. An attempt to swallow prickled his parched throat. The next few seconds of silence weighed over Johnny like a pendulum, until he feels blood rushing back into his fingertips. He flexes his wrists cautiously as Jaehyun sits up, hissing from the dint of manoeuvring his injured leg. 

“If you tell anyone I’ll kill you.” The threat is dulled by the redness rimming Jaehyun’s eyes when he rolls off Johnny to stand unsteadily. He turns to limp away, tail drooped between his legs. In spite of the hostility he was just met with, intimidation doesn’t reach Johnny’s head.

“Hey dude, let me help you. Werewolf or not, you should go to the hospital,” Johnny jumps back onto his feet, brushing himself off half-heartedly as he crosses in front of Jaehyun’s path. Jaehyun would be more disquieted about Johnny’s relentless pursue if he were any less worn, however the agony clawing up his leg and soreness of his being from the tussle had wrung him dry. Johnny was already shrugging off his jacket and Jaehyun doesn’t put up a fight when he wraps it around his shoulders, far too gone to feel embarrassed about his nudity. 

The next time his mind tunes in, he’s seated sideways on a plush car seat, legs hanging off the side where the car door is open with an attentive Johnny hunched over his injury; The car had been started, heat blasting. What amount of insulation the jacket brought contributed readily to his comfort, all the time before this where he wasn’t wearing it suddenly an impoverishment he couldn’t see himself reverting to. “What’s your name?” Johnny asks, handing an unscrewed a bottle of water over before digging into his first aid kit again. “Jaehyun.” He croaks after taking a long drink from the bottle, tensing and squeezing his eyes shut when an exquisite stinging rushed through his leg. 

“Sorry, I know this part really sucks. It’s almost done… That’s a good boy.” Johnny is murmuring from below him, and despite his agony the mindless praise had proved to be an effective distraction. Jaehyun’s mind swam as Johnny’s hand came up to rub soothingly right above the bend of his knee. Motives sincere or not, Jaehyun allows himself, if for just one moment, the indulgence of Johnny’s soft touch.

“Jaehyun… I’m Johnny.” He offers while wrapping a roll of bandage around his shin, brows knitted in concentration. “The wound’s pretty deep, I’ve given it a clean and applied some antiseptic but you’re definitely gonna have to get that checked.” The first aid kit is promptly stored away in the glovebox and Johnny disappears to the back of the car, returning with some clothes. “I’ve got some spare clothes, you should put them on.” 

With some degree of difficulty, Jaehyun manages to pull on the pair of sweats while Johnny averts his gaze respectfully, but he doesn’t forget to help roll the pant leg up after so it doesn’t irritate Jaehyun’s wound. The shirt was deemed unnecessary, Jaehyun favouring sinking deeper into Johnny’s puffy jacket instead. Once he was righted in his seat, the car door shuts and Johnny moves to get in the driver’s side, a slight jog in his step as he rounds the front of the car. Jaehyun studies him through the windshield, wonders why he couldn’t have had the luck to meet Johnny in a more normal setting. At a raunchy bar, perhaps, though he didn’t find himself frequenting those much anymore. Was he even into guys? Such frivolous thoughts said much about Jaehyun’s ameliorated mode of being. Settled in, Johnny rubs his hands together in a bid to alleviate the stiffness of his fingers, though thankfully the car heated up with ease now that all the doors were closed. Jaehyun feels an inkling of guilt at the sight of Johnny’s attempt to warm up. He was the werewolf here after all, but his body’s thermoregulation was currently not up to par. 

“It’s gonna be a bit of a drive. Are you feeling ok?” Johnny spares a glance at Jaehyun who manages a nod, his ears folded backwards against his head. Johnny’s fingers itch to touch them. 

“Wait.” As if remembering something, Jaehyun straightens slightly. “Do you know how to get back to the main highway? I’ll tell you where to go from there.” His request is met with an ‘okay’ and no questions, seatbelts clicking into place. 

“Why are you helping me?” The question bubbles out of Jaehyun when they’ve hit asphalt. A few beats of silence pass, Johnny’s eyes fixed to the stretch of road. 

“I don’t know. Kind of hard to ignore an injured animal, especially when it’s from some man-made thing. Makes me feel responsible somehow.” 

Jaehyun contemplates his response warily. Johnny is quickly learning that Jaehyun isn’t much of a talker.

“It’s okay, I know this is a weird situation. I’m also pretty freaked. With the werewolf thing and all.” Johnny can’t find it within himself to feel insulted by Jaehyun’s distrust – it took far less for a man to put up his guard, all the more so in a vulnerable state. Yet, was he not in the same shoes? For all he knew, the werewolf could be luring him to his doom. It was a two-way street, but Johnny was willing to deliver his side of the bargain first as to absolve himself of any ill-intention. Any wise man knew to let a mutt sniff at you before laying a hand on it. 

*

“Oh god Jaehyun what happened?” A man – presumably the doctor – bursts into the sterile room, giving Jaehyun a once-over and his view instantly pans down to his bandaged leg.

“Wolf trap.” He says drily as the doctor, a well-groomed man with a slender build, washes his hands in the sink by the door and snaps on fresh gloves before returning, squatting to undo the bandages. Johnny watches wordlessly, eyes skimming over Jaehyun’s side profile and landing on his furry ears. They were very much attached to his head, and very much alive – on what seemed to be a human man. His tail was just out of sight, a brush of grey fur peeking out from under the jacket and disappearing around the far side of Jaehyun’s seated figure. None of this non-human anatomy seemed to faze the doctor. Was he also a werewolf? He didn’t appear to possess the same canine features as Jaehyun.

“Did you bandage it yourself?” 

Johnny, whom the doctor has yet to spared a mere glance at, chimes in then. “No, I did. I just tried to clean it and applied some antiseptic.” That finally earns him some acknowledgment, sharp eyes darting over. 

“You’ve done a good job, but it seems that there’s still some degree of infection going on,” He stands, pulling off the gloves. “I don’t think it’s broken since you can weight-bear but you could get an X-ray just to be sure. It’s going to need a few stitches as well.” His gaze returns to Johnny. “Sorry I didn’t ask earlier, you are?” 

“Johnny. I found him injured. And you are doctor…?” 

“Kim. Kim Doyoung. I’ll get you to wait outside if that’s okay?” 

“Johnny, you can go if you want, I’ll be alright from here.” Jaehyun interrupts against every bit of desire within himself for Johnny to stay. Sure, to Jaehyun, this was customary, something that held as much meaning as a ‘how are you?’ from a cashier, but he had selfishly hoped that it meant the same to Johnny.

“It’s fine, I’m not doing anything anyway. I’ll take you home.” Johnny shoots a reassuring smile at Jaehyun as he steps out of the room with the final word, giving him no chance to decline. Jaehyun was glad Doyoung didn’t have a stethoscope against his chest right then; his accelerating heartbeat would be difficult to attribute to his injury. He feels Doyoung’s inquisitive gaze burning holes into his skull as the door shuts. 

“I’m not going to ask now because I am a professional,” Doyoung says slowly, the calm before the storm, “but we _will_ be coming over for dinner and you better explain then.” 

*

True to his promise, Jaehyun finds Johnny fiddling with his phone in the waiting room of the clinic. Johnny looks up to the sound of crutches clacking against the vinyl flooring, slipping his phone back into his pocket as he rises to his feet. 

“How did it go?”

“The stitches are pretty sore but otherwise fine.” Jaehyun replies as he turns gingerly towards the exit on his single crutch, Johnny’s hands lifting reflexively to hover by his torso. 

“Trust me I’ve been there. Should we get something to eat before you go home?" 

“No it’s okay, I’ll figure out something myself, I’ve bothered you enough.” They step back into the chill, Johnny moving one step ahead to unlock the car and tug open the passenger’s door. 

“You can barely walk. Also, I’m starvi— sorry, my car’s kinda high,” Johnny almost sounds regretful when he has to watch Jaehyun haul himself into the car, and he sets the crutch on the backseat. “You want McDonald’s? We can drive-thru so you don’t have to get off.” Johnny suggests once they’re both out of the dastard cold, Jaehyun resuming his half-present state swaddled by his jacket. He hums, ambivalent for a moment, before concurring with a guilty “thank you.” 

The beauty of fast-food chains was that there was always one right around the corner. Burgers in hand, they sit in wearied silence, apart from the crinkling of wrapping paper and muffled chews. 

“Did I hurt you?” Jaehyun speaks without turning. 

“Huh?”

“When I tackled you, I mean.”

“Oh. Nah, probably a little bruised from the fall but otherwise no biggie.” 

“…Sorry.” Is all Jaehyun can offer.

“Don’t worry about it. You’re pretty fucking strong though, my wrists are still feeling it,” Johnny flexes his wrists again to check, tone lifted by impress which Jaehyun almost found absurd. “At least my ego’s better now that I know you’re a whole werewolf.” _With the tightest goddamn body I’ve ever seen._

“Sorry,” Jaehyun repeats dumbly. “Honestly, I was fucking scared.” 

“Me too. I can’t blame you though, we’re even.” Johnny says as he shoves a bunch of fries in his mouth.

“No way, you basically saved my life. I don’t even know how to thank you.” 

Johnny deliberates over a mouthful of burger. “Well… there’s this one thing…” Eager expectant eyes fix on him. 

“Can I touch your ears?” 

The question hangs in the air for a second, settling, before Johnny breaks into a smile. “I’m joking, you don’t have t—”

“Go for it.” Jaehyun says, more resolute than necessary. As if that isn’t enough to prove his sincerity, he readjusts himself in his seat and cranes his head towards Johnny, triangular ears poised. A wondrous twinkle replaces the teasing amusement in Johnny’s eyes as he breathes an ‘oh’. Hesitantly, he reaches up with his non-grease-stained hand and cautiously brings it down against them, the ears in turn falling flat with little resistance. Exactly like patting every dog Johnny’s ever had the pleasure of encountering; exactly the same sensation of his heart threatening to burst. “Cute.” He mumbles subconsciously, efforts bolder now that the irrational fear that Jaehyun would bolt like a startled animal on contact has been vanquished. Johnny doesn’t notice the flush that creeps up Jaehyun’s neck. 

“It’s really not much but I could buy you dinner or something,” Jaehyun blurts before he can overthink it, and before the tension in the air can cause him to spontaneously combust. Johnny’s hand leaves the top of Jaehyun’s head to grab his coke from the cup holder and Jaehyun’s ears twitch quietly in complaint. “Oh, and um, I’ll return your clothes then.”

“That sounds great,” Johnny tries to keep the beam that lights up his face in check. _Careful now, Johnny. Don’t be overly enthusiastic._ He pulls out his phone and unlocks it, handing it over. _Werewolves have phones, right?_ “Save your number, I’ll text you.” 

One new contact added and ravenous stomachs subdued, they head to Jaehyun’s place, which Johnny soon discovers isn’t the farthest from where his apartment was despite their chanced encounter hundreds of miles away from the city. This only led to more questions arising in Johnny’s mind, disjointed chunks of information that flummoxed him further when he tried to piece them together. He figured he’d get plenty of time to ask when they met again. _But would they?_ Who’s to say that the werewolf wouldn’t just vanish into thin air once they parted? Not that Johnny would hold any resentment if he did, but Johnny liked him – the word ‘liked’ still open to interpretation. The car rolls to a stop below Jaehyun’s apartment block, Johnny hopping off to retrieve his crutch, and Jaehyun cracks a joke about feeling like a geriatric patient. Johnny laughs like it’s the funniest thing in the world. 

“Wait, do you live alone? You don’t look like you have keys on you.” Johnny remembers with a start.

“Don’t worry, I have a spare key hidden somewhere.” _So he was prepared? Was this a regular occurrence?_ “Thank you. Really.” Jaehyun’s voice drops to deliver the words more sincerely. His Adam’s apple bobs, once. “Also, um... could you please keep this whole werewolf thing between us?” 

Johnny answers with a firm nod and Jaehyun returns a bashful smile, the divots in his cheeks on proper display. Let’s just say revelations were made in terms of Johnny’s preferences. “I’ll see you soon then. Text me.” With that, Jaehyun hobbles to the sliding glass doors of the building, sending a wave from inside which Johnny mirrors with a toothy smile. As Johnny drives off, the car radio gently offers _Dilemma_ by Nelly.


End file.
